Shoe inseam sewing machine



Feb. 15, 1955 F. c. EASTMAN SHOE 'INSEAM SEWING MACHINE 2 Sheds-Sheet 1 I Fi-led lay 1. 1952 Frd Eastman B Feb. 15, 1955 Fgc EASTMAN 2,702,015

' SHOE msmu sswmc uacams 7 Filed May 1. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'sion during formation of the first stitch.

SHOE INSEAM SEWING MACHINE Fred C. Eastman, Marblehead, Mass asignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. 1., a corporation of N ew Jersey Application May 1, 1952, Sel'lalNo. 285,405 1 6 Claims. (C 112-59)' upon application of Alfred R. Morrill, and No. 2,200,402,

granted May 14, 1940 upon application of V. J. Tetrault and in an application for United States Letters Patent Ser.

No. 71,990, filed January- 21, 1949 in the name of the present inventor, of which latter application the present one is a division. I

In the machine disclosed in the Tetrault patent, a thread cutter and holder device is disclosed, mounted on a movable support in such manner that a pull on the thread exerted by the stitch forming devices in starting a new seam moves the holder yieldingly while still engaging the thread until the first stitch is formed, thus maintaining the thread under accurate control and ten- The thread cutter and holder support swings about a pivotal mounting. As the thread is pulled by the stitch forming devices toward the first stitch of a new scam in starting the machine in operation, the angle formed between the thread and the holder changes progressively with the swing of the support. For this reason the thread may slip in the holder or become disengaged sooner than desired or in an irregular manner.

The purposes of the present invention are to avoid the difiiculty noted and to provide a simple and more uniformly elfective thread cutter and holder for a shoe sewing machine, particularly of the type forinserting inseams in Goodyear welt shoes. To these ends the invention is illustrated as having been applied to a shoe inseam sewing machine provided with the usual thread handling and stitch forming devices, including a hook needle, a looper, a thread cutter for severing the thread at the completion of a seam, a thread holder comprising gripping jaws and a yielding and swinging support for the jaws, movable toward the sewing point under the pull of the thread as a new seam is started, 111 which .machine there is provided a member separate from but connected with the jaws for supporting the thread in a Y manner to prevent change in angle between the line of thread pull and the gripping jaws from eflecting the time or manner of thread release from the jaws. Preferably, the thread supporting member comprises a shoulder having an arcuate surface located concentrically with a pivotal axis about which the support swings under pull of the thread. In one form of this feature, which is of more general application, one of the gripping jaws consists of a nipping block mounted for movement in the direction of thread pull toward the other jaw to maintain a self-energizing grip as the holder is moved by thread pull.

These and other features of the invention include the novel and improved devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed which, together with the advantages to be obtained thereby, will readily be understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a view in right side elevation, partly broken away and in section, of the head of a shoe inseam sewing machine embodying the features of the present invention:

Fig. 2 is a sectional view in right side elevation on an United States Patent 2,702,015 Patented Feb. 15, 1955 Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the device taken along the line V-V of Fig. 3.

' with a predetermined minimum tension. holder is rotatably mounted on a bracket 18 secured by The shoe machine illustrated in the drawings is arranged for sewing the upper and the welt to the insole of a Goodyear welt shoe and is provided with a curved hook needle 2, a curved awl 4, a needle looper 5, a thread arm 6, a welt guide 8, a channel guide 10, a take-up 12 and other stitch forming devices of the same construction and mode of operation as those described in present inventors application above noted and, except as hereinafter pointed out, similar to those of the Eppler, Morrill and Tetrault patents. The operating and stitch forming devices are driven from a main sewing shaft 14 rotatable'in a head casting 16 as disclosed in the prior patents and applications.

The machine of the Tetrault patent and the present machine both have a swinging thread holder for maintaining a yielding control on the end of sewing thread remaining in the machine while under the pull exerted by the first stitch of a new seam is being formed so that the first stitch may be inserted and tightened in the work The thread screws 17 to the machine frame, and the holder is yieldingly rotated under the pull exerted on the sewing thread by the stitch forming devices in starting a seam. Unlike the machine of the above-noted patents, there is arranged in cooperative. relation to the thread holder a stationary cutter knife 20 mounted on the bracket 18 instead of rotating with the holder. The holder is attached to a support 22 rotatably mounted on a spindle 24 extending from the bracket 18 and forming a pivotal axis for the support. At the outer -end of the spindle, a screw 26 prevents lengthwise displacement of the support from the spindle.

As has been stated, the thread holder of the present invention comprises a pair of gripping jaws having flared ends to form a thread receiving throat opening radially away from the axis of the spindle 24 and a member separate from but integrally connected with the jaws supports the thread against angular movement of the thread in the jaws in a manner to produce a substantially uniform pull on the thread throughout the rotary movement of the jaws with the thread about the spindle. For this purpose the thread support member comprises a thread engaging shoulder 28 (Fig. 4) having an arcuate surface on the support 22 located concentrically with the pivotal axis about which the support rotates and disposed in line with the thread running from the gripping jaws to the stitch-forming devices. As the thread, indicatedat 30, gripped by the jaws on the support is subject to pull, the thread wrapped around the arcuate shoulder 28 prevents irregular release from the jaws, and ensures a more nearly uniform resistance to thread pull as the support is rotated about its pivotal mounting, thus contributing to uniformity and accuracy of insertion for the first stitch in a new seam. With reference to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the angular relation of the thread to the holder jaws does not change as the holder is rotated in a counterclockwise direction by the pull on the thread from the solid line position to the dot-dash line position. Consequently, as the holder support 22 rotates between the solid line and the dot-dash positions, likelihood of thread slippage from between the jaws is prevented until the final movement of the holder is completed. Release of the thread from the jaws eventually is obtained after the thread is disengaged from the surface of the thread engaging shoulder 28 so that it is pulled laterally and outwardly toward the open throat between the jaws. In pulling toward the open throat 3 of the jaws the thread slides from between them in a manner to be described.

The gripping jaws of the holder are arranged to receive the thread at the completion of a seam in a shoe by lateral movement into an open throat between them in the same manner as described in the Tetrault patent. The illustrated gripping jaws, however, have a one way self-energizing action' arranged to increase the grip on the thread after insertion as the'pull on the thread toward a shoe being sewn is increased. For this purpose the jaws, indicated at 32 and 34, are so arranged that the jaw 32 acts on the jaw 34 as a nipping block or'dog mounted and guided for pivotal movement toward and from the jaw 34 about one edge remote from the point of engagement with the thread. the thread engaging edge of the iaw 32 swinging toward the other iaw 34 to increase the grip on the thread and away from the jaw 34 as the thread enters the open throat between the jaws. To increase the grip on the thread the angle between the jaw 32 and the other iaw 34 approaches a limit positi n of 90 as the increasing thread pull swings the iaw 32 throu h frictional engagement with the thread (see Fig. 4). The jaw 34 is formed inte rally with the support 22 and is in the form of a radially extending finger projecting from the support. The nipping jaw 32 is guided for movement in the direction of thread pull and toward the other jaw and is in the shape of a perforated plate having its pivotal edge sharpened and disposed in a wedgeshaped slot within a block 36 (see Fig. 4). As the 90 limiting ngular position of the gripping jaw 32 is reached the iaw fi ls the space between the end of the slot in the block 36 and the other iaw 34 to apply a maximum grip on the thre d. T retain the nipping iaw 32 in the recess of the block 36 the reduced end ofa screw stud 38' enters into the perforation of the nipping jaw and is threaded into a portion of'the block 36 at one side of the slot therein. The arcuate surface of the thread engaging shoulder 28 is constructed as an integral portion of the support 22 and is connected with the hub of the support by a radial flange 40. The location of the flange 40 and shoulder 28 is such that the thread engaging the gripping jaws and running from the thread finger 6 and looper is always carried about the arcuate surface of the shoulder 28 close to a second radial flange portion of the support whenever the thread is engaged with the jaws. To prevent displacement of the thread from the shoulder while applying the thread to the holder the support has a second radially projecting finger 42 disposed approximately 90 in advance of the jaws. The finger 42 assists in guiding the thread as it is wrapped about the shoulder before entering the gripping jaws. During the insertion of the first stitches of a new seam, as the holder 22 rotates under pull of the thread, the iaws swing bodily about the pivot screw 26 into line with the thread, so that the pull exerted no longer causes the jaw 32 to act as a one-way nipping block. Accordingly, the thread is drawn readily outwardly from the open throat between theiljaws, which throat then faces the direction of thread pu The thread cutter 20 has a knife blade screwed at 43 to a projecting lug on a split collar 44 surrounding a cylindrical portion of the bracket 18 which carries the spindle 24, and the collar is mounted on the cvlindrical portion by a clamp screw 46. The cutter knife is retained in stationary position by the collar but is adjustable in its angular relation about the spindle 24 upon release of the clamp screw 46. The lug on the collar 44 also acts as a limit stop for the support 22 so that its initial position can be determined by adjustment of the collar.

To actuate the thread holder and support yieldinglv, the hub of the support is surrounded by coil spring 48, one end of which is hooked about the clamp screw 46 between the split portions of the collar 44, and the other end of which is carried about the edge of the support 22. The arrangement is such that as a thread end is pulled by the stitch forming devices in starting a new seam, the spring will be coiled up until the thread is pulled outwardly and released from the gripping jaws. As soon as the thread is released from the gripping jaws, the holder is quickly returned from the dot-dash position to the solid line position of Fig. 3.

Operation of the holder and cutter is similar to that in the Tetrault patent but is effective in maintaining a better control on the thread in starting a new seam, as

well as in rendering the operation of the cutter more convenient and safe from danger of injury to the operators hands. Safety in operation is improved by the use of a stationary knife, the knife being mounted in a convenient relationship to the holder while'the thread is being severed. It is evident from Fig. 3 that the thread may. be applied to the holder and the end severed close to the holder by movement of a sewn shoe upwardly to the left to bring the thread laterally into the open throat of the gripping jaws. Thereafter, the thread'is carried to the right so that it engages the edge of the knife where it is severed. In starting a new seam, however, the holder is shifted away from the knife without carrying the knife with it as in the Tetrault machine, so that there is less opportunity for the operator's hands to come into contact with the knife as a new shoe is being presented to the machine and the sewing operation is starting.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

l. A shoe inseam sewing machine having thread handling and stitch forming devices including a hook needle, and a looper, a thread holder comprising gripping jaws to hold the end of the thread in starting a new seam and a yielding support for the jaws movable with the jaws toward the sewing point under the pull of the thread exerted by the stitch forming devices, in combination with a member separate from but connected with the jaws and disposed in line with the thread running from the gripping jaws to the stitch-forming devices for supporting the thread to produce a substantially uniform pull on the thread throughout the yielding movement of the jaws with the thread.

2. A shoe inseam sewing machine having thread handling and stitch forming devices including a hook needle, a looper, a thread holder to hold the end of the thread in starting'a new seam comprising a pivotally mounted yielding support and gripping jaws carried by the support, said support being rotatable under the pull of the thread exerted during sewing operations, in combination with a member connected to the support and formed with an arcuate surface located concentrically with the pivotal axis of the support and disposed in line with the thread running from the gripping jaws to the stitch-forming devices to produce a uniform pull on the thread as the support is rotated about the pivotal mounting. 3. A shoe inseam sewing machine having thread handling and stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, in combination with a rotatably mounted thread holder to hold the end of thethread against the pull exerted in starting a new seam, comprising gripping jaws having a thread receiving throat opening radially away from the axis of rotation of the holder, one of which jaws consists of a nippingv dog pivotally mounted and guided for swinging movement relative to the other jaw in the direction of thread pull and toward a limit position with respect to the other jaw to grip the thread while starting a new seam. 1

4. A shoe inseam sewing machine having thread handling and stitch forming devices, including a hook needle and a looper, in combination with a thread holder for maintaining control of the end of the thread against the pull exerted in. starting a new seam, comprising a pivotally mounted yielding support, gripping jaws on the support, said jaws having a thread receiving throat opening radially away from the pivot of the support and one of said jaws consisting of a pivoted nipping dog mounted and guided for swinging movement relative to the other jaw in the direction of thread pull and toward the other jaw to an angular position of 90 with respect to the other jaw to grip the thread against said other jaw while starting a new seam, the pivot of said nipping dog being located to cause the plate to release the thread from the open throat between the jaws when the support swings about its pivot under the pull of the thread toward a positiofl where the open throat faces the direction of thread pu 5. A shoe inseam sewing machine having thread handling and stitch forming devices including a hook needle, and a looper, and a thread holder comprising gripping jaws to hold the end of the thread in starting a new seam, a support for the jaws movable with the jaws toward the sewing point under the pull of the thread exerted by the stitch forming devices, and a bracket on which the support is mounted for movement, in combination with a stationary thread cutter mounted on the bracket at a location away from which the thread holder is shifted by the pull of the thread to cause the thread to be severed close to the holder after being engaged thereby before the support is swung by the thread.

6. A shoe inseam sewing machine having thread handling and stitch forming devices including a hook needle, and a looper, and a thread holder comprising gripping jaws to hold the end of the thread in starting a new seam and a support for the jaws movable with the jaws toward the sewing point under the pull of the thread exerted by the stitch forming devices, and a bracket on which the support is mounted for movement, in combination with a stationary thread cutter adjustably mounted on the bracket at a location away from which the thread holder is shifted by the pull of the thread to cause the thread to be severed close to the holder after being engaged thereby, and a spring connected to the holder for yieldingly retaining the thread holder at the limit of its movement toward the thread cutter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,341,061 Latham May 25, 1920 2,200,402 Tetrault May 14, 1940 v FOREIGN PATENTS 485,623 Germany Nov. 2, 1929 

